Exam 15: Tracing Evolutionary History

At the end of the ________, over 96% of marine species and many terrestrial species became extinct, possibly because intense volcanic activity warmed Earth's climate.

Which of the following lines of evidence suggests that lungfishes evolved while Pangaea was intact?

What was the probable role of oxygen gas in the early stages of life's appearance on Earth?

Which of the following options lists major events in the history of life on Earth in the proper order, from earliest to most recent?

You find the frozen remains of a woolly mammoth in an Alaskan glacier. You analyze a bit of the tusk and find that its ¹⁴C:¹²C ratio is about one-fourth (25%)of the baseline level typically found in living organisms. Given that the half-life of ¹⁴C is 5,730 years, when did the mammoth die?

Cave-dwelling catfish and cave-dwelling salamanders share striking similarities: Both organisms lack pigmentation, and their eyes are reduced or absent. The most recent common ancestor to these organisms had normal pigmentation and fully developed eyes. The similarities between cave catfish and cave salamanders are an example of

The process through which species not closely related may come to resemble one another if they live in a similar environment is known as

Over the past 400 years, humans have documented the extinction of more than ________ species. This modern rate of species extinction is estimated to be ________ the normal extinction rate seen in the fossil record.

In 1942 a scientist testing part of a radar system discovered that a candy bar in his pocket had melted. Intrigued, he tried placing an egg near the system he was working on; it exploded and splattered him with hot egg. In this way it was discovered that part of the radar system could be used to cook foods, which led to the development of the microwave oven. When this kind of repurposing occurs in biological systems, it is called

If an isotope has a half-life of 4 million years, and a fossil is 16 million years old, how much of the original isotope will be found in the fossil?

After reading the paragraph below, answer the questions that follow. The first fossil of Archaeopteryx, which lived about 150 million years ago, was found in the Solnhofen Quarry in Germany. Archaeopteryx has an interesting collection of characters that led to the hypothesis that it represented an evolutionary transition between modern-day birds and small bipedal dinosaurs. The fossil reveals the imprint of feathers, which connect Archaeopteryx to birds, although they do not present direct evidence of flight. Unlike birds, however, Archaeopteryx was shown by the fossil record to have had teeth, functional claws on the wings that may have been used for climbing trees or holding prey, and a long, bony tail. Birds have a fused collarbone, which was found in Archaeopteryx as well. However, the structure of the sternum differed between the two. In birds, the sternum is keeled (raised and slightly concave); the keel of the sternum serves as an attachment site for the flight muscles. Archaeopteryx had a flat sternum, similar to that found in reptiles. -If you were constructing a phylogenetic tree for the evolution of birds, which characters found in Archaeopteryx might provide evidence that birds and dinosaurs had a common ancestor?

Scientists believe that a major factor promoting the adaptive radiation of mammals was probably

Earth's continents and seafloors together form a thin outer layer of the planet called the

According to this figure, if a species were found only in Laurasia 135 million years ago, on which modern continents would its descendants most likely be found today?

Geologists have evidence that over the past 1.5 billion years,

The existence of nest-building in crocodiles and birds led to a prediction that this behavior was also present in ________.

The Himalayas are an example of a mountain range that formed as a result of

According to "evo-devo" thinking, an organism's body form can be substantially changed

One of the strongest lines of evidence of a meteor or comet impact in the late Cretaceous is

After reading the paragraph below, answer the questions that follow. The first fossil of Archaeopteryx, which lived about 150 million years ago, was found in the Solnhofen Quarry in Germany. Archaeopteryx has an interesting collection of characters that led to the hypothesis that it represented an evolutionary transition between modern-day birds and small bipedal dinosaurs. The fossil reveals the imprint of feathers, which connect Archaeopteryx to birds, although they do not present direct evidence of flight. Unlike birds, however, Archaeopteryx was shown by the fossil record to have had teeth, functional claws on the wings that may have been used for climbing trees or holding prey, and a long, bony tail. Birds have a fused collarbone, which was found in Archaeopteryx as well. However, the structure of the sternum differed between the two. In birds, the sternum is keeled (raised and slightly concave); the keel of the sternum serves as an attachment site for the flight muscles. Archaeopteryx had a flat sternum, similar to that found in reptiles. -The feathers of Archaeopteryx may have been used for flight. However, it is likely that they were originally used for